Van Hook leads Chapel Hill past Orange in C-6 boys' opener

Orange's Andrew Toney goes up for a jump shot against Chapel Hill. (Special to The Herald-Sun/Will Okun)

HILLSBOROUGH —

Chapel Hill knew to expect a lot of long-range jumpers from Orange. And as long as the Panthers were missing, that was good news for the Tigers.
Orange went 1-for-11 from behind the arc in the first half but it didn’t knock the Panthers completely out of the game. It was enough however for Chapel Hill to build a comfortable lead, which it held the rest of the way.
Chapel Hill (12-3, 1-0 Carolina 6 3-A Conference) won its sixth straight game, while Orange (5-8, 0-1 C-6) lost its conference opener at home.
Anthony Van Hook led Chapel Hill with 21 points, including 10 in the first quarter as the Tigers established an inside presence that Orange had difficulty defending.
Van Hook, who is about 6-4, said he relished playing inside even though he doesn’t possess the size of most post players he faces.
“It’s really not a problem. I love being inside,” said Van Hook, who also pulled down 11 rebounds. “If coach wants me to play inside, I’ll do it. I just wanted to get us off to a good start early.”
Chapel Hill coach Tod Morgan said Van Hook’s contributions were important.
“We tried to do some things early to get him into the game,” Morgan said. “He can’t just down there and back in and bang it around. That’s not his game.”
His first three baskets were in the paint, including a pair of follows on his own misses.
Orange, meanwhile was content trying to score from outside.
Panthers coach Greg Motley said his team has struggled shooting from outside all season.
“It’s something we thought we’d be good at this year but it just hasn’t shown up yet,” Motley said. “I’m trying to get them to relax and have a little fun.”
The Panthers, who hit their first two field goal attempts early in the second period, scored only one point in the final 4:58 of the quarter to fall behind 24-15 at halftime.
Chapel Hill’s largest lead came with 5:18 left in the game when Brian Thornton finished a three-point play to make the score 43-29.
Orange did manage to hit four 3s in the final quarter but by then Chapel Hill’s lead was too much to overcome. The Panthers finished 6 of 22 from behind the arc, while Chapel Hill attempted only three from behind the arc, missing them all. The Tigers held their lead by making 12 of 17 free throws in the fourth quarter.
“We knew Orange was going to shoot a lot of 3s from seeing them on tape,” Morgan said. “If they had made them early, it would have been a dogfight. But they waited until the end to make them.”
Andrew Toney led the Orange with eight points while Jalen Pittman hit a pair of 3s.